“Run” is the new single from singer-songwriter-producer, Joji, and it’s pretty good. This is coming from the guy that’s been following him since he was making whatever he could on SoundCloud nearly four years ago.
Back then he was making something that follows the lines of “Lo-fi Hip-Hop beats to relax/study to” each track he released, if at all, was made with a minimal amount of instruments. Time passed, and he was signed to the label 88Rising, who focused on primarily Asian artists. That’s when his career took off, and while still maintaining his signature low fidelity aesthetic, was slowly phasing it out.
During this time he released In Tongues, an EP that introduced him to a wider audience. While many fans think fondly on this project, critics were ambivalent to it. About a year later, Joji released his debut album BALLADS 1, which featured Joji making small improvements to criticisms of his last release. He, vocally, makes more of an effort to sing instead of croon his way through a song, and production-wise it’s still lo-fi, but with a bigger budget. Once again, fans love it, critics were still on-the-fence about it, but in the end, I get to listen to more of Joji.
And with this new release, there’s such a stark difference from his previous releases, save for “Sanctuary” his previous single.
“Run” takes a page from the pop-rock scene making a power ballad that, while not excellent, still did a good job at what it was trying to achieve. There are decisions that I love, like the use of the electric guitar which felt nostalgic but never felt intrusive. However, there are some decisions he made that I can’t make my mind up about, for example he sings the majority of the song in a falsetto tone that, while impressive gets a little grating on the ears.
Put into comparison to his breakout single “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK” where he uses it sparingly to add a sense of struggle to get the words he wants to get out into the air, in “Run” it’s just there. It’s fine to say the least.
Also the lyrics are cheesy, like all of his songs. But they’re all a good kind of cheese. Parmesan cheese if you will.
Alright that’s it, it’s good, go listen to it.
Back then he was making something that follows the lines of “Lo-fi Hip-Hop beats to relax/study to” each track he released, if at all, was made with a minimal amount of instruments. Time passed, and he was signed to the label 88Rising, who focused on primarily Asian artists. That’s when his career took off, and while still maintaining his signature low fidelity aesthetic, was slowly phasing it out.
During this time he released In Tongues, an EP that introduced him to a wider audience. While many fans think fondly on this project, critics were ambivalent to it. About a year later, Joji released his debut album BALLADS 1, which featured Joji making small improvements to criticisms of his last release. He, vocally, makes more of an effort to sing instead of croon his way through a song, and production-wise it’s still lo-fi, but with a bigger budget. Once again, fans love it, critics were still on-the-fence about it, but in the end, I get to listen to more of Joji.
And with this new release, there’s such a stark difference from his previous releases, save for “Sanctuary” his previous single.
“Run” takes a page from the pop-rock scene making a power ballad that, while not excellent, still did a good job at what it was trying to achieve. There are decisions that I love, like the use of the electric guitar which felt nostalgic but never felt intrusive. However, there are some decisions he made that I can’t make my mind up about, for example he sings the majority of the song in a falsetto tone that, while impressive gets a little grating on the ears.
Put into comparison to his breakout single “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK” where he uses it sparingly to add a sense of struggle to get the words he wants to get out into the air, in “Run” it’s just there. It’s fine to say the least.
Also the lyrics are cheesy, like all of his songs. But they’re all a good kind of cheese. Parmesan cheese if you will.
Alright that’s it, it’s good, go listen to it.